Articles

Nauticam USA announces the manufacturing of an underwater housing for the Canon EOS 7D digital SLR.

Nauticam engineers have incorporated design suggestions from top Canon shooters worldwide in an effort to build a 7D housing that is a completely logical extension of the camera making no ergonomic compromises.The resulting design is small, light weight, attractively styled, and provides effortless camera control.

Particularly interesting are a new joystick control pad for access to the multi-selector, a locking port release lever, which eliminates the twisting of ports during attachment, and new “piano key” controls, which should be fantastic for people diving in gloves. Continue reading for full press release.

Stingray City has been a main attraction to Grand Cayman for over two decades since Skin Diver reported on it in 1987. Yes—it’s got a little bit busier these days, but it is still the same mind-blowing experience it always was. However, all of this could change soon, as the Cayman Islands Liquor Licensing board has granted a permit for a floating bar to operate in this area (which is a Marine Park).

Whilst it is not yet known what legislation exists that can prevent this from happening there is obviously something very wrong with the idea of a bar in a marine park where you interact with wild animals. Many Wetpixel members have spent time with the rays in Stingray City, generating 1000s of photos between us all. If you have enjoyed the experience, please head on over to the forums to learn about how you can get involved with our protest.

Misool EcoResort, located in the heart of Raja Ampat, Indonesia, is holding a raffle to support the Ranger Patrol, which protects a 425 sq km No-Take Zone. A 50 Euro donation gets you entered once into the contest to win a free 7-night stay at the resort plus 10 dives (100 Euros gets you entered twice!).

Congratulations to Jon Shaw of GinClearFilm for his winning entry in the Wetpixel contest for the soon-to-be-released Sensational Seas 2 DVD. “Underwater New South Wales: Sydney” is the introductory video to Jon’s new DVD release featuring the underwater world around Sydney, Australia and the NSW area.

Sony announces 13 new handycams at CES 2010. The new range of handycams include new XR, CX and TG series. The top of the line XR550V now has 24mbps, Memory Duo/SDHC card support , 240GB hard disk drive and a new EXMOR R CMOS sensor that is optimized for low light. The LCD screen is now a 3.5” and the camera has full manual controls. The variation among the series are mainly memory configurations. Included in the 13 handycams are 5 new SD cameras. 2 pro cameras, the HVR-AX2000 and HVR-NX5 were also announced.

Snorkelers to novice and advanced scuba divers who participate will come away with a wealth of knowledge that will have them shooting better pictures to helping them make the right equipment choice for their specific shooting needs.

Panasonic has announced a full complement of HD components covering production to end user 3D HDTV products for 2010 at CES. These products include a HD 3D camcorder that uses SDHC cards, a 3D BluRay player and a 3D HDTV. The new HD 3D Camcorder is basically one camera with 2 lenses. The custom $21,000 camera is the most compact HD 3D camera yet and uses SDHC cards for storage.

To push on the 3D wave, Panasonic also announced a new 3D Blu Ray player and 3 new HD 3D HDTV series, thus offering a complete solution for HD 3D home entertainment systems. And yes you still have to wear those 3D glasses!

Canon has announced 9 new Vixia HF models in the M, S and R series camcorders at CES. The new lineup includes the HF S21 with 2 SDHC card slots and built-in 64GB memory, allowing up to 24 hrs recording capability at SD resolution and almost 12 hours of full 24mbps AVCHD video. The camera also has a new Powered IS for telephoto shooting, along with a sensor optimized for low light operation, a LCD viewfinder and a bigger 3.5” LCD touch screen. All models will be available by April.